Parallel ice wind tunnel spraying system and method for arranging system

Abstract

The invention discloses a parallel ice wind tunnel spraying system covering various cloud and mist conditions. Three sets of spraying subsystems are arranged in the system, one set of spraying subsystems adopts conventional supercooled water drop spraying rakes, the other set of spraying subsystems adopts supercooled large water drop spraying rakes, the other set of spraying subsystems adopts ice crystal feeding devices, and each spraying subsystem adopts a set of control system. The upstream portions of the two sets of supercooled water drop spraying systems are combined and connected with the wind tunnel, and the downstream portions of the subsystems are provided with confluence sections used for collecting and mixing cloud-containing flow fields flowing out of the subsystems and then connected with the wind tunnel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of icing experiments, and particularly to an ice wind tunnel spray system covering a variety of cloud and fog conditions. Background Art

[0002] An aircraft may encounter icing weather during flight, which may cause icing of key components such as the aircraft's aerodynamic surfaces, sensors, and engine intake components. Since icing will change the aerodynamic shape of the above components or block the detection ports of sensors, it has a greater impact on flight safety. When designing aviation products, the impact of icing on component performance is usually analyzed and evaluated. To achieve the above purpose, it is necessary to obtain the ice shape on the surface of the component. Although the prior art conditions can obtain the general outline of the ice shape through computational simulation means, due to the complexity of the icing process and mechanism, the icing test is still the most reliable way to obtain ice shape data.

[0003] Icing tests usually rely on icing simulation devices. Among them, the ice wind tunnel is one of the most widely used icing simulation devices. A typical ice wind tunnel usually includes main subsystems such as a power system, a refrigeration system, a spray system, and the wind tunnel body structure. Among them, the power system is used to accelerate the test air flow in the ice wind tunnel to the speed required for the test, the refrigeration system is used to cool the test air flow in the ice wind tunnel to the temperature required for the test, and the spray system is used to generate the cloud and fog conditions required for the test. Strictly speaking, the cloud and fog conditions required for the icing test include three types: conventional supercooled water droplets, supercooled large droplets, and ice crystal mixtures. However, almost all existing ice wind tunnels under the prior art conditions only have good simulation capabilities for one of the above three types of icing cloud and fog conditions, which is mainly related to the ice wind tunnel spray system under the prior art conditions.

[0004] The ice wind tunnel spray system is mainly composed of air atomizing nozzles. After the purified water flows into the nozzle, it is forced out of the nozzle under the action of high-pressure air in the nozzle and is broken and atomized during this process. Since the atomization range of a single air atomizing nozzle is small and the size of the test section is large, in order to ensure that uniform cloud and fog conditions can be generated in the entire large-sized ice wind tunnel test section, the ice wind tunnel spray system under the prior art conditions usually fixes air atomizing nozzles of the same model in the form of an array (spray rake) in the ice wind tunnel spray section, and all nozzles are directly connected to the water supply and air supply main pipes. It can be found that although this spray system structure form better solves the problem of large-range uniform water mist and is relatively simple to control and implement, since a specific model of air atomizing nozzle can only generate cloud and fog conditions within a specific range, it also restricts the simulation range of cloud and fog conditions in the ice wind tunnel. Therefore, under the above technical conditions, if other types of icing cloud and fog need to be simulated in the ice wind tunnel, only the spray section can be replaced.

[0005] To broaden the cloud simulation capabilities of icing wind tunnels, research institutions at home and abroad have also made some attempts. For example, some nozzles under existing technical conditions are replaced, and a separate water supply and gas supply system is connected for control to achieve the simulation ability of supercooled large droplets in a conventional water droplet icing wind tunnel. However, the result of this method is that air atomizing nozzles of different models need to be staggered on the spray rake. Since the water mist flowing out of the nozzle needs to travel a sufficient distance (atomization length) to achieve the atomization effect, and the characteristics of nozzles of different models (including atomization range and atomization length) are inconsistent, it is difficult to avoid the interference of different types of water droplets with each other before full atomization using the above scheme, and the separate control of these nozzles will inevitably lead to an increase in control difficulty. In addition, the above scheme still fails to solve the problem of generating cloud conditions of the ice crystal mixed phase (part of ice crystals mixed with part of supercooled water).

[0006] Therefore, a system is needed that can improve the defects in the existing technology. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present invention content is provided to introduce some concepts in a simplified form that will be further described in the following detailed implementation part. The present invention content is not intended to identify the key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to help determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0008] Aiming at the technical problems in the existing technology, the present invention proposes a new icing wind tunnel spray system solution, enabling it to generate various cloud conditions required for icing tests, including conventional supercooled water droplets, supercooled large droplets, and ice crystal mixtures.

[0009] In this system, two parallel spray sub-system pipe segments for conventional supercooled water droplets and supercooled large droplets are provided, in which a conventional supercooled water droplet spray rake and a supercooled large droplet spray rake are respectively arranged, avoiding the interference of a single cloud condition with other cloud conditions before full atomization. In addition, the icing cloud can evenly cover the test area without overly introducing the difficulty of equipment manufacturing and control.

[0010] Specifically, in an embodiment of the present invention, a parallel-type icing wind tunnel spray system is provided, including:

[0011] A main pipe segment, the inlet of which is connected to the outlet of the upstream system of the wind tunnel;

[0012] A supercooled large droplet spray sub-system pipe segment and a supercooled water droplet spray sub-system pipe segment, the supercooled large droplet spray sub-system pipe segment is parallel to the supercooled water droplet spray sub-system pipe segment and the upstream of both is merged and connected to the main pipe segment, in which a supercooled large droplet spray rake is arranged in the supercooled large droplet spray sub-system pipe segment, and a supercooled water droplet spray rake is arranged in the supercooled water droplet spray sub-system pipe segment; and

[0013] A confluence section, which is connected in merger to the downstream of the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section and the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section, and an ice crystal feeding device is arranged at the entrance of the confluence section.

[0014] In an embodiment of the present invention, the upstream system of the wind tunnel is a refrigeration section.

[0015] In an embodiment of the present invention, the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section, the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section and the confluence section have no crosslinking with each other and adopt respective independent control systems for separate control.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present invention, the clouds and mists generated in the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section and the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section are mixed evenly within their respective pipe sections to generate stable cloud and mist parameters.

[0017] In an embodiment of the present invention, the outlet of the confluence section is connected to the inlet of the downstream system of the wind tunnel, and the confluence section is used to collect and mix the cloud and mist-containing flow fields flowing out from the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section and the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section.

[0018] In the above embodiment of the present invention, the downstream system of the wind tunnel is a contraction section.

[0019] In an embodiment of the present invention, the ice crystal feeding device is an ice crystal injection port.

[0020] In another embodiment of the present invention, a method for setting up a parallel ice wind tunnel spraying system is provided, including:

[0021] Setting up a main pipe section so that the inlet of the main pipe section is connected to the outlet of the upstream system of the wind tunnel;

[0022] Connecting the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section and the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section in parallel and connecting the upstream of the two in merger to the main pipe section;

[0023] Arranging a supercooled large water droplet spraying rake in the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section and arranging a supercooled water droplet spraying rake in the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section;

[0024] Setting up a confluence section so that the confluence section is connected in merger to the downstream of the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section and the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section; and

[0025] Arranging an ice crystal feeding device at the entrance of the confluence section.

[0026] In an embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes connecting the outlet of the confluence section to the inlet of the downstream system of the wind tunnel.

[0027] In one embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes using respective independent control systems to separately control the supercooled water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section, the supercooled large water droplet spraying subsystem pipe section, and the confluence section.

[0028] After studying the following detailed description of the specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Although the features of the present invention may be discussed below with respect to certain embodiments and drawings, all embodiments of the present invention may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the present invention discussed herein. In a similar manner, although the exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments, it should be appreciated that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] To understand in detail the manner in which the above-recited features of the present disclosure are used, a more specific description of the above briefly summarized content may be made with reference to the various aspects, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted, however, that the drawings only illustrate certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and should not be considered to limit its scope, as the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.

[0030] Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a parallel ice wind tunnel spraying system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 2 FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a method for setting up a parallel ice wind tunnel spraying system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The various embodiments will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings forming a part of the present invention and showing the specific exemplary embodiments. However, the embodiments may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the embodiments to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiments may be implemented as a method, system, or device. Thus, the embodiments may take the form of a hardware implementation, a full software implementation, or an implementation combining software and hardware aspects. Therefore, the following detailed description is not limiting.

[0033] The steps in each flowchart can be executed by hardware (e.g., processors, engines, memories, circuits), software (e.g., operating systems, applications, drivers, machine / processor executable instructions), or a combination thereof. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, the methods involved in each embodiment may include more or fewer steps than those shown.

[0034] In view of the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention proposes a parallel ice wind tunnel spray system solution. In this solution, three sets of spray subsystems are provided. One set uses a conventional supercooled water droplet spray rake, one set uses a supercooled large water droplet spray rake, and one set uses an ice crystal dispensing device. Each sub-spray system uses a set of control systems. The upstream of the two supercooled water droplet spray systems merges and connects to the wind tunnel (usually connected downstream of the refrigeration section). A confluence section is provided downstream of each subsystem to collect and mix the cloud-containing flow fields flowing out of each subsystem, and then connect to the wind tunnel (usually connected upstream of the contraction section).

[0035] When the cloud conditions required in the experiment can be covered by a single spray subsystem (such as only conventional supercooled water droplet clouds or ice crystal clouds), only one spray subsystem (such as the conventional supercooled water droplet spray subsystem) is turned on. The cloud conditions generated by this spray subsystem are first mixed evenly within the subsystem, and then flow into the confluence section downstream of the spray section for further mixing, thereby generating a uniform single cloud condition test environment. When the cloud conditions required in the experiment need to be coordinated by two spray subsystems (such as supercooled large water droplet cloud conditions and ice crystal mixed-phase cloud conditions, the former needs to cover the double-peak characteristics formed by conventional supercooled water droplets and supercooled large water droplets, and the latter needs to cover the two-phase of supercooled water droplets and ice crystals), the corresponding spray subsystems are turned on respectively. Each subsystem first generates stable cloud parameters in its respective flow channel, and then flows into the confluence section downstream of the spray section for further mixing, thereby forming the mixed icing cloud parameters required to meet the test conditions.

[0036] Aspects of the present disclosure will be described in more detail and comprehensively below with reference to block diagrams and method flowcharts.

[0037] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a parallel ice wind tunnel spray system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The system may include a main pipe section 1, two subsystem pipe sections 2 and 3, and a confluence section 4. These pipe sections will be described in detail below.

[0038] As Figure 1 shown, the parallel ice wind tunnel spray system in the present invention may include a main pipe section 1. In an embodiment of the present invention, the inlet of the main pipe section 1 may be connected to the outlet of the upstream system of the wind tunnel. In an embodiment of the present invention, the upstream system of the wind tunnel may be a refrigeration section, and the refrigeration section may generate a supercooled dry air flow 8 for conducting icing experiments.

[0039] In the above embodiments of the present invention, the parallel ice wind tunnel spray system in the present invention may further include a supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 and a supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3. As Figure 1 shown, in this embodiment, the supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 may be in parallel with the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3, and the upstream of both of them (i.e., both the supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3) may be combined and connected to the main pipe section 1, so that the supercooled dry air flow 8 from the main pipe section 1 can flow into the supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present invention, a supercooled large droplet spray rake 5 may be arranged in the supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2, and a supercooled water droplet spray rake 6 may be arranged in the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section. In this embodiment, the supercooled large droplet spray rake 5 may be configured to generate a cloud containing supercooled large droplets, and after mixing with the incoming supercooled dry air flow 8, it may further generate a supercooled large droplet-containing air flow 9 that meets the test conditions. And the supercooled water droplet spray rake 6 may be configured to generate a cloud containing supercooled water droplets, and after mixing with the incoming supercooled dry air flow 8, it may further generate a supercooled water droplet-containing air flow 10 that meets the test conditions.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present invention, the clouds generated in the supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3 (i.e., the supercooled large droplet-containing air flow 9 and the supercooled water droplet-containing air flow 10) may be mixed evenly within their respective pipe sections and generate stable cloud parameters.

[0042] As can be understood by those skilled in the art, the supercooled large droplet spray rake 5 and the supercooled water droplet spray rake 6 in the present invention may be any suitable spray rake, and are not limited to a specific spray rake.

[0043] In the above embodiments of the present invention, the parallel ice wind tunnel spray system in the present invention may further include a confluence section 4. In this embodiment, as Figure 1 shown, the confluence section 4 may be combined and connected to the downstream of the supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3, and an ice crystal injection device 7 is arranged at the entrance of the confluence section 4.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present invention, the outlet of the confluence section 4 may be connected to the inlet of the downstream system of the wind tunnel, and the downstream system of the wind tunnel may be a contraction section. The confluence section 4 is usually connected upstream of the contraction section.

[0045] In one embodiment of the present invention, the ice crystal delivery device 7 may be an ice crystal ejection orifice for generating an ice crystal-containing airflow 11 that meets the test conditions. In this embodiment, the confluence section 4 can be used to collect and mix the cloud-containing flow fields flowing out from the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3 to generate a mixed icing cloud 12 required to meet the test conditions.

[0046] As can be understood by those skilled in the art, the ice crystal delivery device 7 in the present invention can adopt any suitable ice crystal delivery device, and is not limited to the ice crystal ejection orifice.

[0047] Thus, in the parallel ice wind tunnel spray system of the present invention, three sets of independent spray subsystems can be provided, namely, the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2 using the supercooled large water droplet spray rake 5, the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3 using the supercooled water droplet spray rake 6, and the confluence section 4 using the ice crystal delivery device 7. In one embodiment of the present invention, the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 2, the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3, and the confluence section 4 are not cross-linked with each other and can be controlled separately using their respective independent control systems. In this embodiment, the spray rakes and the ice crystal delivery devices of the two parallel spray subsystems can be respectively connected to their respective water supply, air supply, and ice crystal supply systems. Thus, the three spray subsystems in this system can be independently turned on.

[0048] In one embodiment of the present invention, by way of example and not limitation, when the required cloud condition is a single cloud condition (e.g., only a conventional supercooled water droplet cloud or an ice crystal cloud), one spray subsystem that covers the required cloud condition (e.g., the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section 3 or the confluence section 4) can be turned on only, and the cloud condition generated by this spray subsystem can be evenly mixed within the subsystem. When the cloud conditions required for the test require two spray subsystems to cooperate (e.g., the supercooled large water droplet cloud condition and the ice crystal mixed-phase cloud condition, the former requires covering the conventional supercooled water droplets and supercooled large water droplets to form a bimodal characteristic, and the latter requires covering the two phases of supercooled water droplets and ice crystals), the corresponding spray subsystems are turned on separately. Each subsystem first generates stable cloud parameters in its respective pipe flow channel, and then converges into the confluence section downstream of the parallel spray section for further mixing, thereby forming the mixed icing cloud parameters required to meet the test conditions.

[0049] Figure 2 The flowchart of a method 200 for setting up a parallel ice wind tunnel spray system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0050] As Figure 2 shown, the method 200 begins at step 202 of setting up a main pipe section such that the inlet of the main pipe section is connected to the outlet of the upstream system of the wind tunnel. In one embodiment of the present invention, the upstream system of the wind tunnel can be a refrigeration section.

[0051] Next, method 200 proceeds to step 204, where the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment are connected in parallel and their upstream portions are merged and connected to the main pipe segment.

[0052] Then, method 200 proceeds to step 206, where a supercooled large water droplet spray rake is arranged in the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment and a supercooled water droplet spray rake is arranged in the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment. In one embodiment of the present invention, the clouds generated in the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment and the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment are mixed evenly within their respective pipe segments and stable cloud parameters are generated.

[0053] Subsequently, method 200 proceeds to step 208, where a confluence section is provided to connect the confluence section to the downstream portions of the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment. In one embodiment of the present invention, method 200 may further include connecting the outlet of the confluence section to the inlet of the downstream system of the wind tunnel. In one embodiment of the present invention, the outlet of the confluence section is connected to the inlet of the downstream system of the wind tunnel, and the confluence section is used to collect and mix the cloud-containing flow fields flowing out from the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment and the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment.

[0054] Finally, method 200 proceeds to step 210, where an ice crystal dispensing device is arranged at the inlet of the confluence section. In one embodiment of the present invention, the ice crystal dispensing device is an ice crystal ejection port. In one embodiment of the present invention, method 200 may optionally further include using respective independent control systems to separately control the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment, the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe segment, and the confluence section.

[0055] After step 210, method 200 ends.

[0056] In summary, the present invention realizes a set of spray systems that simultaneously cover the test conditions of conventional supercooled water, supercooled large water droplets, and ice crystal mixtures through a parallel spray subsystem, which can expand the test capabilities of the ice wind tunnel; multiple cloud mixtures are used to avoid interference between single cloud conditions and other cloud conditions before sufficient atomization; when generating mixed cloud conditions, instead of separately controlling individual nozzles, a set of control systems is used to control the same set of spray subsystems, with mature technology and low control difficulty.

[0057] The above describes embodiments of the present invention with reference to the block diagrams and / or operational descriptions of methods, systems, and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. The various functions / actions noted in the blocks may occur in a different order than shown in any flowchart. For example, depending on the functions / actions involved, two consecutively shown blocks may actually be executed substantially simultaneously, or these blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order.

[0058] As described above, it is only the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A parallel ice wind tunnel spray system, comprising: A main pipe section, the inlet of which is connected to the outlet of the wind tunnel upstream system; A supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section and a supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section, wherein the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section is connected in parallel with the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section and the upstreams of the two are merged and connected to the main pipe section, wherein a supercooled large water droplet spray rake is arranged in the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section, and a supercooled water droplet spray rake is arranged in the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section; and A confluence section is connected to the confluence section of the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section and the downstream of the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section, wherein an ice crystal delivery device is arranged at the inlet of the confluence section.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the wind tunnel upstream system is a refrigeration section.

3. The system as described in claim 1, wherein the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section, the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section and the confluence section are not interconnected and are respectively controlled by independent control systems.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the clouds generated in the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section and the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section are evenly mixed in their respective pipe sections and produce stable cloud parameters.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the outlet of the confluence section is connected to the inlet of a downstream system of a wind tunnel, and the confluence section is used to collect and mix the cloud-containing flow field flowing out of the supercooled large droplet spray subsystem pipe section and the supercooled droplet spray subsystem pipe section.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the wind tunnel downstream system is a convergent section.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the ice crystal delivery device is an ice crystal injection nozzle.

8. A method for setting up a parallel ice wind tunnel spray system, comprising: Arranging a main pipe section so that an inlet of the main pipe section is connected to an outlet of an upstream system of the wind tunnel; Connecting the supercooled large water drop spray subsystem pipe section and the supercooled water drop spray subsystem pipe section in parallel and merging the upstreams of the two and connecting them to the main pipe section; Arranging a supercooled large water droplet spray rake in the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section and arranging a supercooled water droplet spray rake in the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section; Setting a confluence section so that the confluence section is merged and connected with the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem pipe section and the downstream of the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem pipe section; and An ice crystal delivery device is arranged at the entrance of the confluence section.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising connecting an outlet of the converging section to an inlet of a downstream system of the wind tunnel.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising using independent control systems to respectively control the supercooled water droplet spray subsystem section, the supercooled large water droplet spray subsystem section and the confluence section.

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